South African telecom major MTN Group is in talks to acquire Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML), reports Hindustan Times citing sources. Sources told the publication that the discussion is still in early stages. The report also quotes an undisclosed corporate lawyer who had apparently advised Tata during the DoCoMo stake sale who mentioned that Tata Group had held two rounds of preliminary discussion with MTN recently. MTN and Tata Sons spokespersons however declined to comment on this to the publication, providing a boilerplate response: "We do not comment on such speculation". It's worth noting that Vodafone was earlier rumored to be in talks to acquire both the companies from Tata Group, enabling the latter to exit the telecom industry altogether. However, the report says that the talks broke down earlier this year following differences over valuation. NTT DOCOMO had earlier announced plans of selling its entire 26.5% stake…
